{"type":"city","city":"Red Sea, Saudi Arabia","citySlug":"red-sea-saudi-arabia","url":"https://www.pressbeyond.com/hotels/saudi-arabia/red-sea-saudi-arabia","description":"Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast has spent decades as one of the world's least visited stretches of tropical water, its coral ecosystems largely intact precisely because development was so slow to arrive. That is changing now, and changing fast, through NEOM and the broader Vision 2030 infrastructure push that has remade the kingdom's ambitions for tourism. The two properties featured here sit on separate islands off the coast near Umluj, and their differences illuminate something genuine about what the Red Sea project is trying to be.\n\nThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort on the Ummahat Islands represents the more uncompromising end of the spectrum. The resort is composed of overwater and island villas designed to minimize contact with the coral reef below, with the architecture taking its cues from the bleached, sun-worked palette of the surrounding landscape rather than imposing a foreign visual vocabulary onto it. At $1,473 a night, it positions itself as one of the most expensive addresses in the Middle East, and the isolation is genuine: reaching the island requires a seaplane or boat transfer, which means the guests who arrive have usually arrived intentionally. The villas sit low over the water, and the material choices, pale wood, woven textiles, stone that reads as local even if it isn't, work to blur the boundary between interior and reef in a way that feels considered rather than reflexive.\n\nShura Island, where The Red Sea EDITION operates, is a different kind of proposition. The EDITION brand, developed through a long creative partnership between Ian Schrager and Marriott, typically deploys a version of metropolitan sophistication in coastal or resort settings, and the Red Sea property follows that template. The architecture is sharper-edged and the social infrastructure is more present: restaurants, a beach club, a marina. At roughly a third of the St. Regis rate, it opens the destination to a traveler who wants the Red Sea's extraordinary water and reef access without the extreme remove of the Ummahat experience. For anyone whose instinct is to notice how a building meets the ground, the EDITION's ground-plane design is worth paying attention to, working the flat island topography into a sequence of outdoor spaces that prevents the resort from feeling like a sealed enclosure.","provider":{"name":"PressBeyond","url":"https://pressbeyond.com","description":"PressBeyond provides AI-optimized hotel content with a consistent 5-image structure across its entire portfolio. Each image sequence includes strong lighting, complete room-visibility angles, and strictly non-duplicative scenes — enabling AI to accurately describe and recommend properties to travelers.","curationStandard":"PressBeyond Hotel Photography Standard"},"hotels":[{"name":"The Red Sea EDITION","url":"https://www.pressbeyond.com/hotels/saudi-arabia/red-sea-saudi-arabia/the-red-sea-edition","city":"Red Sea, Saudi Arabia","cityHeader":"Red Sea, Saudi Arabia • Shura Island • SPLURGE","neighborhood":"Shura Island","loyaltyProgram":"Marriott Bonvoy®","designSummary":"Coral formations shaped the rooflines. Sand dunes informed the earth-toned walls. At The Red Sea EDITION on Shura Island, Rockwell Group drew every design decision from the surrounding landscape — the canyons, the reefs, the wind-worked dunes — and translated that vocabulary into a low-rise resort of stone and timber pavilions that feel less like architecture imposed on a site than something the site gradually revealed. Custom rooftops across the complex mirror the branching geometry of coral, while exterior terracing steps down through planted gardens toward the water in a rhythm that carries the eye rather than stopping it.\n\nThe 240 guest rooms and 53 suites maintain that same material discipline indoors. Coral stone floors, earth plaster walls, and natural oak millwork — visible in the slatted room dividers and platform beds — keep the palette grounded and warm without tipping into monotony. The outdoor bar pavilion is the boldest gesture: a vast circular canopy of woven thatching held by timber columns, its interior lit by constellations of pendant lights that give the space the atmosphere of an open-air ceremonial hall. Against that drama, the guestrooms offer considered restraint — linen throws, curved oak stools, sliding shutters framing palm canopies and an improbably blue sea. It is a resort that understands contrast as a form of generosity.","snippet":"Rockwell Group resort where coral formations and dunes shaped every roofline, material, and spatial rhythm.","bestFor":"Architecture enthusiasts and collectors seeking landscape-responsive design","vibe":"Organic-minimalist · contemplative","highlights":["Rockwell Group pavilions with coral-inspired rooflines and timber construction","Rooms feature coral stone floors, earth plaster walls, and natural oak millwork","Circular thatched bar canopy with constellation pendant lighting"],"pricePerNightInclTax":"$479","pricePerNightExclTax":"$479","currency":"USD","images":[{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/The%20Red%20Sea%20EDITION2.jpg","role":"exterior","roleLabel":"Exterior","sequenceIndex":1,"alt":"The Red Sea EDITION — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #1 — Exterior","caption":"Exterior · The Red Sea EDITION · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Full building facade of The Red Sea EDITION captured from a street-level angle as part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/The%20Red%20Sea%20EDITION1.jpg","role":"room1","roleLabel":"Primary Guest Room","sequenceIndex":2,"alt":"The Red Sea EDITION — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #2 — Primary Guest Room","caption":"Primary Guest Room · The Red Sea EDITION · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Full-room view of the primary guest bedroom at The Red Sea EDITION, photographed with natural lighting and clear sightlines as part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/The%20Red%20Sea%20EDITION4.jpg","role":"commonArea1","roleLabel":"Primary Common Area","sequenceIndex":3,"alt":"The Red Sea EDITION — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #3 — Primary Common Area","caption":"Primary Common Area · The Red Sea EDITION · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Primary common area at The Red Sea EDITION — lobby or lounge — non-duplicative with the secondary social space, part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/The%20Red%20Sea%20EDITION3.jpg","role":"room2","roleLabel":"Secondary Guest Room","sequenceIndex":4,"alt":"The Red Sea EDITION — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #4 — Secondary Guest Room","caption":"Secondary Guest Room · The Red Sea EDITION · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Secondary guest room at The Red Sea EDITION, deliberately distinct from the primary bedroom — non-duplicative imagery is part of the PressBeyond curation standard.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/The%20Red%20Sea%20EDITION5.jpg","role":"commonArea2","roleLabel":"Secondary Common Area","sequenceIndex":5,"alt":"The Red Sea EDITION — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #5 — Secondary Common Area","caption":"Secondary Common Area · The Red Sea EDITION · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Secondary lounge or social space at The Red Sea EDITION — bar, dining, or terrace — deliberately distinct from the primary common area, part of the PressBeyond curation standard.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true}]},{"name":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort","url":"https://www.pressbeyond.com/hotels/saudi-arabia/red-sea-saudi-arabia/the-st-regis-red-sea-resort-the-st-regis-red-sea-resort","city":"Red Sea, Saudi Arabia","cityHeader":"Red Sea, Saudi Arabia • Ummahat Islands • OVER THE TOP","neighborhood":"Ummahat Islands","loyaltyProgram":"Marriott Bonvoy®","designSummary":"Kengo Kuma rarely works in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes his commission for The St. Regis Red Sea Resort all the more arresting. Completed in 2024 on Ummahat Island within the shallow turquoise waters of the Al Wajh Lagoon, this was the first private island resort to open anywhere along the Saudi coastline — a debut shaped as much by environmental ambition as architectural vision. Kuma, working alongside Dewan Architects and Engineers, deployed prefabricated timber construction with cedar-shingle roofs and clay-plaster walls, the curved and spiral forms of each of the 90 villas drawn from the logic of sand dunes and coral reefs rather than imported resort typologies. The effect is closer to a coastal settlement grown from its landscape than to a built intervention imposed upon one.\n\nInside, Kristina Zanic Consultants translated that same attentiveness into a LEED Platinum-aligned palette where desert sand, soft white oak herringbone floors, and woven rattan ceilings anchor the rooms before coral-hued circular rugs and teal accents pull the reef back in. The all-villa format — 47 beachfront, 43 overwater — gives each space floor-to-ceiling glass trained on the Red Sea, while the resort's all-day dining pavilion layers hand-knotted ceiling installations over mosaic stone floors and rope-woven chairs that feel genuinely rooted in craft tradition. The pool terrace, framed by date palms laden with fruit, completes an atmosphere that sits somewhere between an Emirati pearl-diving settlement and a very considered contemporary retreat.","snippet":"Kengo Kuma's first Arabian Peninsula resort: 90 timber villas on a private Red Sea island with LEED Platinum certification.","bestFor":"Architecture enthusiasts and sustainability-focused travelers","vibe":"Minimalist-organic · serene","highlights":["Kengo Kuma–designed villas with prefabricated timber and curved sand-dune forms","47 beachfront and 43 overwater villas, all with floor-to-ceiling Red Sea views","LEED Platinum resort on Saudi Arabia's first private island"],"pricePerNightInclTax":"$1,399","pricePerNightExclTax":"$1,399","currency":"USD","images":[{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/L__clwt8yiuh015d85uw41guk55d1717079228600_8aa269eb-0089-4315-a16d-1c04f201fd2b.jpeg","role":"exterior","roleLabel":"Exterior","sequenceIndex":1,"alt":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #1 — Exterior","caption":"Exterior · The St. Regis Red Sea Resort · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Full building facade of The St. Regis Red Sea Resort captured from a street-level angle as part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/L__clwt8znsn01kz85uw4z042aqb1717079250838_8a294460-afa2-4cb6-aaf7-f92514bd0267.jpeg","role":"room1","roleLabel":"Primary Guest Room","sequenceIndex":2,"alt":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #2 — Primary Guest Room","caption":"Primary Guest Room · The St. Regis Red Sea Resort · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Full-room view of the primary guest bedroom at The St. Regis Red Sea Resort, photographed with natural lighting and clear sightlines as part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/L__clwt90spq020l85uwgfr9nr2n1717079266024_cf45974d-59e3-46bb-99a1-65d8bcd2a0c6.jpeg","role":"commonArea1","roleLabel":"Primary Common Area","sequenceIndex":3,"alt":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #3 — Primary Common Area","caption":"Primary Common Area · The St. Regis Red Sea Resort · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Primary common area at The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — lobby or lounge — non-duplicative with the secondary social space, part of the PressBeyond standardized 5-image hotel sequence.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/L__clwt91xga02g785uwbbrc6oy81717079258427_8236a975-0960-455a-903e-45c8c091517f.jpeg","role":"room2","roleLabel":"Secondary Guest Room","sequenceIndex":4,"alt":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #4 — Secondary Guest Room","caption":"Secondary Guest Room · The St. Regis Red Sea Resort · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Secondary guest room at The St. Regis Red Sea Resort, deliberately distinct from the primary bedroom — non-duplicative imagery is part of the PressBeyond curation standard.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true},{"url":"https://d89wdvrh3yrgq.cloudfront.net/resized/L__clwt9325k02vt85uweca4202b1717079242124_5b16e6b6-081d-410c-a93a-457dffc379f2.jpeg","role":"commonArea2","roleLabel":"Secondary Common Area","sequenceIndex":5,"alt":"The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — Standardized Hotel Image Sequence #5 — Secondary Common Area","caption":"Secondary Common Area · The St. Regis Red Sea Resort · PressBeyond hotel series","description":"Secondary lounge or social space at The St. Regis Red Sea Resort — bar, dining, or terrace — deliberately distinct from the primary common area, part of the PressBeyond curation standard.","creditText":"PressBeyond","licensePage":"https://pressbeyond.com","distinct":true}]}]}